


The Times have Changed but You Never Will

by Seriyah



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is just a big suck, F/M, Fluffy, Short, Sweet, and also a puppy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 18:31:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19932586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seriyah/pseuds/Seriyah
Summary: A brief look into Adrien’s mind when, in episode 13 ‘The Mime’, he sees Ladybug from his car window for one, magical moment. In which Adrien would like to thank not only God, but also Jesus, for the existence of one (1) polka-dotted super hero lady.





	The Times have Changed but You Never Will

These moments were rare, but Adrien was sure to relish them.

There were times when he wasn’t quite himself. Times when he vaulted across rooftops and saved Paris. Times he could destroy things with a swipe of his dark claws and invoke the cheers of thousands of people with a flick of his tail. Sometimes… he was Chat Noir.

But now was not one of those times, his Miraculous ring gleaming silver on his finger.

Right now he was Adrien Agreste. Model. Student. Teenager. An exciting life for most, but a tired familiarity for him. Before he met Plagg, everyday had been busy, but hardly fulfilling. But this wasn’t about _him_. This was about _her_.

She was as she always is.

She was radiance personified, a scarlet streak of loveliness and fairness and all things good in this world. She was exemplary kind and gentle, but those who mistook her for being ‘soft’ were met by the spark-sizzle-snap of her temper.

She was Ladybug and there were not enough languages and words on this planet to express how much he adored her.

She was standing outside his car, speaking to him in that clear, confident way she always did. He supposed she was also speaking to Nathalie and the gorilla of a man who was driving them to the show, but he could pretend her words were for him and him alone. Adrien was good at pretending.

For one, breathless second he was Adrien and she was Ladybug and that gave him an advantage. She didn’t know who he was. How could she? They had both been so careful guarding their identities from anyone and everyone. She was still Ladybug, but he didn’t have to act like Chat Noir. He didn’t have to swagger in, pretending to have all the self-confidence true felines seemed to inherently possess. He didn’t have to joke around, pretending like she wasn’t the only thing he ever thought of. Like he could be anything without her.

Plagg had explained well enough each of their roles when they had met, the Stoneheart incident a distant memory at this point. Experience helped him clarify in his own way what it meant to posses the black cat Miraculous. Chat Noir was little better than a smoking gun, simply a weapon to be pointed at the enemy. He was to fight and protect the city with brute force and sharp cunning. But only the Ladybug could save it, truly. Only she could purify the akuma butterflies and restore the damage it –and he- had caused. Chat Noir would fight and protect Paris, of course… but he would war and shelter Ladybug until his last breath.

That would come sooner rather than later. She needed his help and he would transform as soon as he was able. It would not take much to slip away in the confusion.

For now, however, he was simply a civilian to her, and he took this extraordinary moment to allow himself to be star struck. There was no mask to hide the wonder on his face. There were many times he hated the masks, both hers and his, for their necessity. For shielding the rest of her face from him. For allowing him to hide behind a persona. But he almost missed it now. At least when he wore it he could imagine he was her equal. But now she seemed even further out of his reach, a brilliant and blazing star in a distant galaxy. It made her seem lovelier than ever.

Her eyes locked onto his and he could almost feel the way his pupils dilated. Too bright. She was too bright to look at but he couldn’t tear his gaze away. He had meant to maximize his anonymity, to memorize her every detail without having to defend her from harm and engage in combat. He had intended to make every moment of these precious few seconds count, but he hadn’t anticipated the immobilizing effect of her baby-blue stare. He was trapped- pinned in place by the weight of her attention. Was he even breathing anymore? He couldn’t tell. It would explain the light-headedness, but he often felt that way around Ladybug. Like his head was floating in gossamer clouds as the tattoo of his heart drummed out the war-song of his devotion.

Something ricocheted off the panel of his car and whatever spell she had cast over him vanished as he jerked back into the world as it is, away from the world as he wished it was. If only temporarily. He was never free of Ladybug’s magic, that much he knew. The ring on his finger itched, the heat of the small body hiding beneath a layer of clothes so very apparent now. As much as he cherishes his moments with Ladybug as Adrien, it was Chat Noir she needed now.

He briefly wondered if she had ever experienced what he had just felt. That heady rush of anonymity. Had she ever even seen him without her mask? How would she had reacted? Did she laugh? Cringe? Smile? Had they ever spoken? What on earth could he have said to her? Would she know if it was him? Would he know if it were her? He had to stop the questions before they took over his mind, as they were often wont to do. He didn’t have time for that now. Now was the time for action and expressing his earnest desire for her affection in more traditional manners.

Feats of strength, acrobatics, ~~terrible~~ amazing cat puns, and finding every excuse to hold her in his arms while he fought with, and protected her.

Sometimes he was Chat Noir.

Others, he was Adrien Agreste.

But in any incarnation, he would always love Ladybug.


End file.
